Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe on Friday announced Premal Desai (50) will be the new chairman of the company’s Executive Board. The move is part of a larger decision to overhaul the top deck of the company’s management following the European Commission decision on June 11 to block the proposed joint venture between Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and Tata Steel Europe.
The two companies had signed definitive agreements on June 30, 2018, to create a 50:50 joint venture. However, the European Commission had raised concerns over high prices for electrical steel, automotive steel and packaging among others in the event of the merger going ahead. In May 2019, the two companies announced they were scrapping the plan.
The elevation of Desai who has been Chief Financial Officer of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG since 2015 and was previously Head of Strategy at Thyssenkrupp AG, will follow the resignation of Andreas Goss (55) from his position as Chief Executive Officer by mutual agreement on June 15, 2019.
Speaking on his appointment Premal Desai, future CEO of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG: “Shaping the future of steel is a challenging task. We look forward to tackling this together as management team. The market environment is not easy, but we are in a strong position and have a lot of potential. We’ll build on that.”